The free-the-chickens campaign has recently added another big name in the Hollywood industry to its roosting place. Recently, Brad Pitt has joined fellow Hollywood A-listers, Ryan Gosling and Bill Maher in a campaign that calls for Costco to stop selling eggs produced by hens that are being caged under conditions identified as animal cruelty.
In a letter sent by Brad Pit to Costco CEO Craig Jelinek on Thursday, he said that birds caged for many years suffer from muscular atrophy. This is the reason why California and most places in Europe have banned the use of cages.
Specifically, Pitt wrote, "As you know, these birds producing eggs for your shelves are crammed five or more into cages that are not large enough for even one hen to spread her wings." He also added that these hens deserve better.
His letter also states, "As you know, many major corporations, from Burger King to Unilever, are getting rid of cages - and Whole Foods hasn't sold eggs from caged hens in years,"
"Please, will you set a reasonable timeframe to stop selling eggs from caged hens?" was his written plea.
This is not the only written appeal that Costco has received from an actor. Maher has also written an open letter to the company via the opinion page of New York Times with the headline saying "Free the hens, Costco!"
"Multiple investigations into battery cages document animals with deteriorated spinal cords, some who have become paralyzed and then mummified in their cages," Maher wrote. "Imagine cramming five cats or dogs into tiny cages, hundreds of thousands in each shed, for their entire lives. That would warrant cruelty charges, of course. But when the egg industry does it to hens, it's considered business as usual."
In the previous month, Ryan Gosling had also written to the Costco CEO saying that an undercover investigation done by the Human Society revealed abhorrent cruelty for the hens by Costco's egg suppliers.
